Roles, responsibilities and decision-making
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1. Who is the decision-maker for the programme?
a. The funding for the programme was delivered through the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) which is the programme lender.
Read more about 1. Who is the decision-maker for the programme?All decisions relating to the recovery of the loans and associated consent decisions are made / approved by DCMS.
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2. What is Sport England’s role?
a. DCMS has appointed Sport England to act as its loan agent to monitor and manage the programme.
Read more about 2. What is Sport England’s role?b. The duties required of Sport England include oversight and recovery of repayments, delivery of the monitoring and reporting process, and the management of all consent matter requests required under the terms of your loan facility agreement.
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3. How do I contact Sport England?
a. You can contact Sport England via our central email [email protected].
Read more about 3. How do I contact Sport England?If you are in dialogue with an individual member of the Sport England team on any matter then please contact them directly.
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Consent matters
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4. Why do I need to seek consents?
a. You may be required to seek pro-active consent for some matters in accordance with terms of your loan facility agreement.
Read more about 4. Why do I need to seek consents?b. If you are unclear as to whether consent is required for your transaction, we encourage you to speak directly to Sport England at the earliest opportunity where guidance can be provided in advance of undertaking the action.
c. All consents should be sought well ahead of your organisation’s need to complete the transaction. This will afford DCMS the time it requires as a government body to make its consent decision ahead of your wish to execute. This is standard for any lender.
d. Failure to seek consent for a matter under the terms of the loan facility agreement is an event of default. If you become aware of such an issue, you should immediately contact Sport England. As you would expect, DCMS may take action to protect its financial / security position, especially given this is taxpayer funding.
e. Sport England encourages Borrowers to review the obligations in your loan facility agreement and the detailed guidance provided in the Borrower Playbook on Consents.
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5. What information do I need to provide to support my consent?
a. It will vary depending upon the consent you are seeking. Details of these consent matters and requirements can be found in the consent matters pages of the Borrower Playbook.
Read more about 5. What information do I need to provide to support my consent?b. If your consent matter is not listed on the website, please contact Sport England at [email protected], or the Sport England team member you have had dialogue with to discuss your matter as soon as possible to confirm your position.
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Monitoring and reporting
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6. Why do I have to complete monitoring and reporting data?
a. It is standard practice for a lender as it monitors the financial health of its portfolio. It is even more relevant given the funding here is provided by the taxpayer.
Read more about 6. Why do I have to complete monitoring and reporting data?b. It can identify activity that has or may require consent from DCMS.
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7. Why do you need to undergo Know Your Customer checks?
a. If existing or new parties are taking a stake of 9.9% or over in your organisation, or wider positions of control, you are required to notify Sport England, and the individuals are required to provide permission for Know Your Customer checks to be undertaken.
Read more about 7. Why do you need to undergo Know Your Customer checks?b. This is a standard approach taken by any lender as part of governance processes to seek to prevent fraud, money laundering and wider financial crimes.
c. Rolling six-monthly / annual checks may be required to manage DCMS’s ongoing risk position.
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Repayments
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8. What if I cannot make my next repayment?
a. Making repayments in line with your repayment schedule is a legal obligation under the terms of your loan facility agreement.
Read more about 8. What if I cannot make my next repayment?b. For further details please refer to the partial or non-repayment section of this Playbook.
c. If you make a partial repayment, you will still be in default for the balance not settled. As such, you should refer to the repayment obligations section.
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9. What if I want to make increased repayments or repay my entire loan?
a. You can seek to part repay / repay your entire loan at any time. More details can be found in the repayment pages of the Borrower Playbook.
Read more about 9. What if I want to make increased repayments or repay my entire loan?b. By repaying your debt in full (the settlement figure will be calculated as the capital and interest accrued to the agreed settlement date), you will no longer be required to report, seek consents and Sport England would release any charges held.
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10. What is subsidy control?
a. DCMS must comply with the Subsidy Control Act 2022 when providing financial support.
Read more about 10. What is subsidy control?b. DCMS’s standard reprofile policy is to apply an Enhanced Interest Rate of +1.5% above the borrower’s standard rate during the period the loan is 'off track'. This can help mitigate the risk of a subsidy arising. As soon as the borrower reaches the time it would have repaid the same value as the original schedule, this falls away.
c. This approach is designed to reflect the additional benefit received by the borrower and to account for the negative time value of money if a borrower pushes repayments back.
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